As small enterprises grow, a pressing question is whether to invest in bespoke business software, or to continue using legacy or off-the-shelf solutions. So called off-the-shelf software solutions are often portrayed as an inferior choice to bespoke software, and usually unfairly so. These solutions include market-leading platforms by Microsoft and Adobe, among others, and provide excellent versatility and value for money.
Most businesses begin by implementing a range of software platforms by different developers, in the short term at least. However, as the number of platforms grows and the business expands, some problems become apparent – namely a lack of integration and cross compatibility, and the burden of training employees on multiple widely different platforms. By contrast, bespoke software from a trusted developer can often provide a much more reliable, integrated, and targeted response to your business needs, at the cost of a larger development purse and implementation time.
The Benefits of Bespoke Software
A bespoke software system is either an application that has been developed precisely for your business requirements – such as an invoicing platform - or a custom framework that serves as an interface and unified dashboard for several legacy or third party applications. In a bespoke development, the developer works in close communication with you and your team right through the design, implementation, and training process.
There are several reasons you may wish to consider a bespoke solution:
1) Specificity
The first stage in the development process is an analysis of your existing processes and systems. A bespoke developer will take the time to understand your business inside-out. This is vital for bespoke software and is the key distinguishing feature from generic systems. It is the reason why bespoke software fits your business exactly.
2) Efficiency
A bespoke software development involves a deeper understanding of the human communications and processes involved in a business. Often the interactions of these two factors can be quite complex. It is here, therefore, that the efficiencies of well-designed software can really aid productivity.
In getting to know your business, a good developer also helps to clarify how it works, and this synergy is found in the resulting software.
3) Simplicity
One of the primary motivations for investing in bespoke software is to streamline and consolidate the functions found in off the shelf software. Because generic software is not targeted at a specific customer, it includes many features that may or may not be required. However, unused features can add confusion for users and slow down work processes.
Moreover, when specific processes have been streamlined according to customer requirements workflows become much faster. The software takes on a portion of the general intelligence of the business and operates accordingly. Bespoke software is thus much easier to use: it is adapted to your business rather than the other way around.
4) Support
Throughout development, a bespoke provider will communicate closely to make sure business expectations and developer solutions are aligned. And once the software has been delivered, a good bespoke developer continues to offer support and guidance.
Bespoke software from TMB
TMB know the importance of bespoke software. We work closely with our customers at all stages of the development process; firstly in understanding the industry and the challenges you face, then in refining the required functions into an elegant and easy-to-use software framework.
Throughout the process we keep in close communication, offering documentation, workshops, and proof-of-concept demonstrations. Our collaborative, personalised approach means that at every stage we keep our work in tune with your goals. To find out more, please give one of our development team a call today.
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